In honor of this edition’s “NOVO like a Champion today” feature, formerly known as “DART like a Champion today” in a better time, I thought I would take some time to advise underclassmen who are anxious about structuring class schedules for next semester. In particular, freshmen often have trouble picking classes because their current semester’s classes were assigned to them by the office of First Year Studies.

My first piece of advice is to calm down. Picking classes for next semester is a serious process, but not one that should be blown out of proportion. No matter what, your counselor will work with you to ensure that you get the necessary classes for your major. You might not necessarily get the teachers or times that you want, but you will get all required courses.

With this in mind, the biggest tradeoff you will encounter when planning your schedule is deciding between the teachers you really want, and the class times you really want. It always seems to work out that the very best teachers only seem to have class slots at 8:25 a.m. or 4:45 p.m. That’s just how it goes. When in doubt, choose better teachers over better time slots. Waking up at eight in the morning is rough, but it is possible if you have a teacher worth getting out of bed for.

However, if you can get classes later in the morning, always go for it. Many people think that having classes early in the morning is a nice way to get all of your work out of the way. Yet for all you freshman who might not have noticed this, most of the fun things in college happen late at night. It is far more likely that you will stay up far into the night chatting with your friends than it is that you will be waking up in the morning for a 6 a.m. run. Therefore, when in doubt always err on the side of later in the day for classes.

The final choice you have to make is space in between classes. Generally, you are given 15 minutes to move between classes. This normally is more than enough time to get anywhere you have to be. But bear in mind that Notre Dame’s campus is very, very large. Fifteen minutes to go from the ROTC building to CoMo might not be enough time unless you enjoy jogging in jeans. When choosing teachers, make sure to understand where their classrooms are in relationship to your next class.

If you follow this advice, I’m sure that you’ll have a great second semester schedule. Remember, try not to worry. You’ll get all of your required classes, and if you’re lucky you might even get to sleep in.

Declan Feeley is a junior theology and finance double major whose interests include writing and investment theory. Declan can be contacted by email at dfeeley@nd.edu.